Another Day, Furthur Down the Line
by Elizabeth Notrab
Summary: This Part really sets up the story for later on. I think this better portrays what the trio will be doing later on in life.
1. Default Chapter Title

***February 19*** 

A small dog walked up to the castle and sniffed the air. It was dark and there seemed to be something...wrong. It walked hesitantly closer and stepped lightly and slowly so as not to disturb the danger that might lurk. 

Suddenly there were footsteps, and the dog tensed, the hair on its neck standing on end. It was prepared to fight whatever there was in the shadows that might want war. Instead of a menacing figure, though, a young girl of sixteen or seventeen walked around the corner. 

"Puppy? Puppy?" she called quietly as she knelt down and extended her hand. The dog sniffed tentatively and, deciding there was no threat, came close enough to lay its head on the girls lap. 

"That's right, I won't hurt you. I'm surprised at you, though. There haven't been many animals around here since...well, you know. Dogs and other animals can sense these things, can't they? You must be really hungry to come this close to the castle. Well, I suppose that no one would mind if I just gave you some food." With that, the girl got up and started back to the castle. She turned to see that the dog was still sitting there. 

"Well, puppy, what are you waiting for? A written invitation? You won't be getting one from anyone at this school. They're all much too paranoid." The dog cocked its head to one side, and then followed the girl into the school. 

~ 

"Pendragon School of Magical Means. Extremely new. The school has been subject to numerous atmospheric anomalies that have students, teachers, parents, you name it, worried out of their heads. The anomalies don't seem to be in any specific sequence, nor do they coincide with dates, schedules of any students, or holidays. Whenever one of them happens, something bad usually follows," stated Hermione Granger who was reporting to her boss, Wendell Holmes. Hermione was the assistant head of the Ministry of Magic's department of Unusual Occurrences. 

"Where exactly have these anomalies been centered?" Holmes asked disinterestedly. 

"On top of the school. No one knows anything about them, which is why it seems logical for us to investigate. It could be something to do with Dark Magic." 

"You want to investigate in other words? Personally, I assume?" Hermione nodded with false confidence. Holmes had a weird peeve of sending anyone into a situation where no outside research has been done. Hermione, on the other hand, preferred to be the one who did the first research. She hoped that he would allow her to go on this case along with the other agents." 

"You've done your homework, Granger, and I can't deny that this doesn't look suspicious, but I can hardly send one of my Assistant Heads out chasing some storm clouds that some student is probably concocting as a joke." Hermione tried to object but Holmes stopped her. "But, I will send out a couple agents to question a few people. Just not you..." Hermione cut him off before he could finish. 

"Sir, if I can't go, then can I chose who does go?" She wasn't about to let him send people that would work to only his requirements. 

"Of course, Granger. Send whomever you want. If you can get me their files before eight hundred hours tomorrow, I'll get them on the case by nine hundred." Hermione stood up and Holmes nodded her out. 

Ron Weasley was waiting outside the office. He stood up when he saw her. "So? How'd it go? Did he go for it?" Hermione smiled. When he acted like this, she could almost see him as he was when she had first met him at Hogwarts. 

"Of course he went for it. I was pitching it," she said. Ron frowned at her flippancy and pretended to punch her on the chin. 

"It's a wonder I stayed friends with a know-it-all like you all these years," he remarked. Hermione beamed at his jab. "Anyway, Leslie will be so relieved. She's been so worried about what Aislin has been writing about in her letters. It's good to know that you're out there investigating." 

Hermione stopped. "Ron, I'm not the one investigating. He wouldn't let me go." She started walking quickly down the hall to her office. "But don't worry. He's letting me at least pick the agents to send. I'll pick the best ones that I have." Hermione could see that Ron was not uplifted by her news. "I'm sorry." 

"You did your best Hermione. I'm sure that whoever you chose will do theirs." 

~ 

"A dog!? Where in the world did you get a dog?" Cara looked up at her friend and stopped petting the dog for a little while. The dog was deeply offended by this, and pawed at her until Cara continued. 

Aislin laughed. "She was outside when I was walking. She was so hungry and so I brought her inside to feed her and she just fell asleep on my bed. What should I name her?" 

"Name her? You're not actually going to keep her. There is no way they would let you keep her. I mean, I don't think that she's the one causing these strange clouds, but no one around here is thinking clearly, and they might want to...they won't let you keep her. That's for sure." Cara looked at the dog longingly. There hadn't been any animals at the school for a long time. Cara had had a small tabby, but he had been one of the victims of the first anomaly. 

"Shandeigh." Aislin said, not paying attention to her friend. 

"What?" 

"That's her name. Shandeigh." Cara rolled her eyes. 

"You're lucky that I'm the only other person in our room. You know that if Jenn were still here, she'd already have gone straight to Walden," Cara sighed, referring to their former roommate who had been extremely vehement that all rules must be followed at all times. Cara and Aislin were not the best at this, and so at the first opportunity for a room change, Jenn had applied for new roommates. 

"No one will find out about her. I'll just say that from now on I don't feel like facing everyone because...I'm scared. You can bring food up for Shandeigh and me," Aislin said. 

"Great. Just what I always wanted to do my graduating year: accomplice to concealing a direct violation of orders from the headmaster. Peachy, freaking, keen," Cara flopped down on her bed, disturbing the dog, which ran to Aislin for protection. 

"Don't be such a devout sourpuss. Once this whole thing blows over, everyone will see how stupid they were and Shandeigh will be welcome." 

Cara rolled her eyes again. For some reason she wasn't sure that it would be quite as simple as that. 

***February 20*** 

Hermione presented her hand chosen agents to Holmes just in time. It had been harder than she thought to find two agents who hadn't been completely brainwashed by Holmes' idea of half the research being enough to figure out what needed to be done about a situation. She finally decided on Starler and Musklin, two agents that had been with the Ministry longer than Hermione herself had, and still remember the days where one had to actually work when on a case. 

There wasn't much else on her docket for the day so she figured that she might as well go out and try to forget work for a while. She didn't know where she was going when she set out, but she ended up at the Leaky Cauldron, an old tavern that had been around for as long as Hermione could remember. 

"Well, if it isn't an old friend," came a high-pitched voice from behind Hermione. She turned around to see who was talking. 

"Wanda! How wonderful to see you again. SO what's new around the Cauldron?" Hermione asked after a quick hug. 

"Well, not much, dearie. Same old, same old. But today has been the day for reunions!" replied the old waitress. 

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked. 

"I think, she means me." A man with dark black hair walked up behind Wanda and extended his arms as if he was going to hug Hermione, but he stopped. 

"HARRY!" Hermione ran into his arms and hugged him instead. "When did you get in town? I thought that you were supposed to be in Egypt!" 

"We were, but they forfeited at the last minute and so we have home field advantage now for the World Cup." After a few years in minor league Quidditch, Harry had been drafted as a second-string Seeker for England's team, with a good possibility of moving to starting in a few more years. 

"Oh, that's wonderful. SO when were you planning on seeing me?" 

"I was going to call you, only Wanda and I got to talking, and...I must have forgotten. Almost seems like fate, you coming in here now. SO how's Unusual Occurrences? Had any weird ones lately?" 

"They're all weird, but nothing rivals the things we saw at Hogwarts. Actually the strangest thing is what's happening over at that new school, Pendragon. Strange clouds have been sighted. Only they weren't really clouds, more like anomalies and they are the forbearers of bad tidings. After each one, there's been something terrible happening, ranging from the death of a cat to a student breaking both legs to one of the teachers breaking their neck. But we have people on it. Good people. Anyway, Mr. Potter I want to hear all about your life since I saw you last." Hermione sat down and rested her chin on hands expectantly. 

"Oh. Well, I don't know much that hasn't been in the news about the Cup. You probably want something more personal, though, right? Well, I suppose there's always Kelley," he said with a smirk. 

"I'll bite. Who's Kelley?" 

"She's my girlfriend. Hermione, I think that she's the one." 

"Harry, every girl is 'the one.' For Heaven's sake, you thought that I was the one at one point." During their seventh year at Hogwarts, Harry and Hermione had started going out. Two years later, Harry asked Hermione to marry him and she turned him down. They didn't speak to each other for months and it had nearly ruined their friendship. It had taken all their friends to reunite them and force the two to make up. 

"You know what I mean," Harry said. He looked down at his glass to hide his momentary blush. "There's just something about her that I can't explain. She's just great, Hermione. I want you and Ron to meet her," he said eagerly. 

"Well, you sound serious, so I will. Bring her over for dinner tomorrow night. I'll invite Ron and Leslie too. And little Lelia. It'll be a reunion to die for. Maybe even Neville'll come from Hogwarts if I ask nicely," Hermione said with growing excitement. "We can talk about the old times. We haven't had time to do that since...those times were there. And then we were too busy talking about the future." She paused, caught up in the moment with tears hanging in her eyes. 

"We grew up so fast. At the time I guess we all thought it would last forever. Only it never did. And it never does. I'll bring her tomorrow night. Do you still live on Downy Street?" asked Harry. 

"Lucky Number 13," she replied, jolting out of her reverie. 

Wanda walked over and handed them the bill. Hermione tried to reach for it, but Harry got it first. He put down quite a bit more money than the bill called for and smiled at Wanda. 

***February 21*** 

Hermione's head jolted up as a file was thrown onto her desk. She looked up and muttered thanks to her secretary, Josie. Josie walked out and Hermione opened the file. It was the results of the search that Starler and Musklin had done. Oh great, thought Hermione, now I have to muddle through this all. "And there's interviews!" she mumbled to herself. 

She sighedas she started with the interview of the headmaster. She had read all the way through it when she found that the agents had taken the time to summarize the whole interview on the back of the last page. "Bless them," she said aloud. So Hermione read the last page of each interview. There were teachers, students, and even a nearby farmer that was interviewed. No one had any idea what was going on, but they all seemed to have a connection. Almost every person had mentioned one student in particular who had confined herself to her room, supposedly because she was scared: Aislin Weasley. 

"Not Aislin. It couldn't be Aislin." She read the case summary next. 

" 'Conclusion: Very little knowledge of what's going on. I suggest that a more thourough investigation of all students and teacher be carried out. The cause of the anomalies and the accidents are as yet unknown, but such an investigation might bring out new evidence. We were unable to interview this Aislin girl that everyone mentioned. Her roommate, Cara Leafly has told us that she is sick and will not see anyone. If you do start a formal investigation, I suggest starting with her.' " 

Hermione looked at the clock. It was only two. At seven, she would be entertaining Harry, his girlfriend, Ron, Leslie, and Aislin's little sister Lelia. And they knew that she would have the report from the case. She dropped her head to her desk again. They would expect Hermione to tell them how it was going. 

~ 

"Leslie! You look simply smashing. Wherever did you get that dress? Was it specially tailored?" Hermione had a smile a mile wide plastered onto her face as she addressed Ron's wife. 

"No dear, I found the loveliest little shop and everything there only looks like it's specially tailored without the dreaful prices," replied the small woman with blonde hair and green eyes. She had a thick Irish accent. 

Hermione led them into the kitchen. She turned to Ron and Leslie. "You two know Harry, of course. This is Miss Kelley Lincoln, Harry's girlfriend." Everyone exchanged greeting, hugs, compliments, and kisses. 

"Well, dinner's ready when everyone else is," Hermione announced amidst the low din of chattering. 

"Oh, and it smells delicious," Kelley observed. "My mouth is watering, Hermione. What are we having?" 

"Oh I made filet mignon and a wonderful new kind of squash that I have fallem madly in love with since they released it. I'm sure you all will too," she said as they all sat. 

Once seated, a line of trays paraded out and floated to each person. They started dinner and after the first "ooh's" and "aah's" over the cooking were through, Ron said, "Too bad that Neville couldn't make it." 

"Yes, I know, but he said that he had an important potion to mix for his class tonight. And it was imperitive that it was made tonight and not today. Not that he would have time during class," Hermione explained. 

"I'm sorry that I couldn't have met him. I can't wait to meet all of Harry's friends if they're as nice as you all are," Kelley gushed. 

The conversation was pleasant all through dinner, but by the time dessert rolled out (actually, it floated too) it had turned to work. 

"SO, Hermione, how's work at the Ministry going for you?" Leslie asked carefully. Hermione knew that she was much too polite to just go out and ask about the case. 

"Oh, everythign's just marvelous. We just solved one of our cases that we've been working on forever. It was such a relief." 

"What about that case with the school that you were telling me about yesterday?" Harry asked innocently. Hermione could have killed him. 

"Well, the agents brought back their case. They don't know what's going on. The limitaitions of preliminary inquistions prevented them from being able to ask enough questions. They do suggest that I start a formal inquest though," she said, carefully choosing how much to tell them. 

"Are you?" Leslie asked. 

"Well, until I do, I can't divulge any details and once I do, there's only very little that I can let out. Even to the parents of the students." She smiled and took a long drink from her wine glass. Kelley stared at her for a little while and then winked. 

"Your daughter goes to Pendragon? Why did you chose a new school instead of Hogwarts or where you went to school, Leslie?" asked Harry's girlfriend. Hermione smiled at her weakly. 

The Weasleys looked at Hermione, briefly annoyed by the subject change, but they turned to Kelley to explain that they didn't want Aislin to go to school in Ireland where her mother had gone and the new school proved to be very much as Hagwarts was with a few curriculum differences that had made the decision. Hermione made a mental note to hug Kelley when she got the chance. 

~ 

Cara ran down the hallway for her life. The form was chasing her. She could remember it coming for cat the first time the clouds came. It was coming for her now. She had to get away. If she could only get to her room in time. If she could only get to her room... 

Cara's eyes popped open. There was dim candlelight near Aislin's bed. She was doing homework. Cara could see the books and the quill moving furiously over the parchment. Shandeigh was twitching at the foot of the bed, chasing rabbits in her dreams. 

Cara saw Aislin look up. "Cara? Are you awake?" Cara didn't answer. If she did she would have to tell Aislin about the dream. Aislin would extract it from her. Her friend had a gift for that. So Cara didn't answer. Aislin went back to her work. 

There had been something about the dream that had really terrified her. At the end, before she woke up, she had heard the voice of what had been chasing her. It sounded like everybad thing that Cara had ever known, and yet it sounded like absolutely nothing. Cara knew that the next time the clouds came, she would go as her cat had gone. And she suddenly missed Felix very badly. 

A/N: Okay, well this part might be kinda boring, but it's setting up the rest of the story, so I promise that it'll get better as it goes along. I try to write stories of the trio at Hogwarts, but it never quite works out, so I'm reverting back to them post-graduation. Hope this story is well received. Thanks for reading so far, and I'd appreciate reviews. Send any owls to mtfbwya@pacbell.net. 


	2. Default Chapter Title

***February 28*** 

Hermione's shoulders stooped as she gripped her broom for dear life. Her fear of heights had been with her ever since she had first flown on a broom. Unfortunately it was the most convenient way to get where one was going in the wizarding world. And she didn't have time to mess around. The anomaly had come up again. 

"How long did the other ones last, again?" she asked Fiona Starler. 

"They average a week. Some more, some less," she replied in a professional tone that was starting to get on Hermione's nerves. It was one thing to be professional, but it was something completely different to sound as if you looked down on your boss. 

"And the accidents? Do they happen after the anomaly leaves or while it's still there?" 

"While it's there, making it nearly impossible to tell when it's going to happen. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to how long they last. The shortest anomaly lasted for four days and the longest for eight. Also, the accidents have been increasing in viciousness. Someone might die this time," stated the older woman. It was as if she was rattling off her times tables. Hermione glared at her for her callousness, but cursed inside her head. If only it hadn't taken a week to get permission for a formal inquest. "Damn red tape," she muttered. 

Soon, though, the school was looming in the distance, and hovering above it eerily was the anomaly. It looked dark and foreboding, and yet colorful and gorgeous at the same time. When Hermione looked at it, she felt a knot form in her stomach. All those years ago she had walked out of Divination class because it wasn't real, only guesswork. But when she looked at the...thing hanging over the school, she had a very bad feeling about the whole investigation. 

~ 

"Cara, slow down. Better yet, stop and breath. Here. Take of sip of my water. Okay start at the beginning, and then move on to the middle and end. Don't jump around." Aislin was busily trying to calm a frantic Cara and she was thankful to do it. If she wasn't busy with her friend, Aislin knew that she herself would be the frantic one. It hadn't taken long for rumors to start flying about the Ministry wanting to talk to the oldest Weasley child. 

"I saw it. The thing that's making those clouds. It was a dream. I wasn't going to tell you because I was so afraid, but for some reason it's not so scary anymore-" 

"Nothing ever is in the light of day." 

"Anyway, I suppose I didn't really see it. It was just this black blob in my dream - very flowing and...slithery. But it was real." Cara paused for a moment, looked around and then whispered, "I heard it talk to me. It's going to kill me next." 

"Is that all?" Aislin laughed. "You're worried because you dreamed about a snake wearing a cloak? Cara I think that it's time you knew the truth. Dreams cannot kill you. And neither can thunder clouds for that matter. Unless of course...the lightning thing, but most wizards that are struck by lightning live very long and prosperous lives. My point is, you're becoming as paranoid as all of them if you buy into all this smoke and mirrors," Aislin said casually. She held to the assumption that there was some student in the school laughing their butt off at all the trouble they caused. The only reason she was nervous about the Ministry coming to interview her was for Shandeigh's sake. 

"Aislin, I've had nightmare before, and that was not just a nightmare. It was real. It was a vision, a premonition, call it what you want. It doesn't' change the fact that whatever this is wants me." Cara's face was dead serious, and so Aislin changed tactics. 

"Okay, I can see that you really believe this whole thing. Why don't' you go to Professor Lentho? He'll get the Ministry Agents to talk to you. Or I will. They're coming to talk to me anyway," Aislin said as she wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulders. "Would that make you feel better?" 

Cara sat bolt upright. She turned to Aislin and slowly stood up. "No. No. No. You cannot go to anyone with this. I told you because...you're my friend. No one else can know. They'll think I'm crazy, the way you did. 'snake wearing a cloak'," mimicked Cara. "I'm not going to have them cart me away for questioning. I can't handle it. I'm staying as far away fro those agents as possible." 

Aislin stood up too. "Okay, I won't tell. And wherever you go, will you take Shandeigh with you. I don't want them taking her away for questioning, either." There was a knock at the door. Aislin waved Cara, holding Shandeigh, back to a place out of view of the door. She then opened the door a crack to find the head girl glaring down at her. 

"The Ministry Agents have arrived. They want to talk to you and Cara in the library," spat out the tall seventh year. 

"I'll be down in a while. Let me get my robes on," Aislin said, slamming the door. She threw on a robe that didn't look like it was too dirty, stopped at the mirror, which assured her she looked fine, and walked down to the library. 

There were three people at the longest table next to Professor Lentho, the headmaster of Pendragon. Aislin recognized one of the women as Hermione Granger, a friend of her father's but the other woman and the man were strangers. 

"Hello, Miss Weasley. This is Assistant Head Granger and Agents Starler and Musklin. They just want to ask you a few questions. Do you want me to stay?" Professor Lentho directed his last question at Assistant Head Granger. She shook her head and he got up to leave. Once out of the library, everyone turned their attention to Aislin. 

"Hello Aislin. Where's your roommate? Cara Wembly, right?" 

"That's right. She seems to have caught what I had the last time the agents were here. She regrets that she can't be here, but when she gets better she'd be more than happy to talk to you," Aislin lied. She had a feeling that agent Starler saw right through her, though no one else showed any signs that they didn't believe her. 

"Oh, well we're trying to figure out this whole mess before the next accident," (Aislin flinched, remembering Cara's dream), "and it's not completely important that we talk to her. It's you that people seem to be more worried about," stated Agent Starler. 

"Yes, you've withdrawn somewhat, according to some people. You haven't spent any meals with your friends, and most of your free time is spent in your room. It has also been reported that you take walks late at night. This all started right around the time the Ministry took interest in the case. I have to tell you that it looks suspicious, like you're laying low." Aislin could tell that Hermione didn't want it to be her that was causing all this mess. Well, she thought, I can't disappoint you because I'm not. 

Aislin didn't know what to say. If she told the truth about why she was hiding, some stupid kid who thought this whole would most likely gut her dog deal was funny as hell. If she lied that Agent Starler would know it and it would make her even more suspect. There wasn't much she could do. Except answer their accusations with questions. 

"What do you want me to say?" 

"Just the truth, dear," Agent Musklin said. His voice was smooth and his tone was pleasant. It was a nice voice and Aislin wanted to hear it again. She turned to him. 

"The truth is that I don't know what's going on. I'm not the one causing it, and I don't know who is. Do you think that I'd freak out my own roommate, I love her to death-" Aislin stopped. She hadn't meant to mention Cara. 

Agent Starler latched onto it. "What about your own roommate?" 

"Nothing. I mean...her cat! Felix! He was the one that was killed. Not a very nice thing to kill your best friend's cat, is it?" Agent Starler backed off, but only after a glare from Hermione, who took over the conversation once again. 

"Listen, Aislin, I've known you your whole life and I don't want to believe that you're the one who's doing this, but there's no one else who comes up. If you don't want us to center on you, then give s some information. AN alibi for you, a clue that leads to someone else, anything." Hermione's eyes were like steel and Aislin could see no room for defiance. 

"Fine. The reason I've been in my room the entire time because I was out walking around after dark and I found this dog. She was so hungry that I had to bring her in. I couldn't let anyone find out about her." 

"Why?" 

"Why do you think? The first casualty of whatever sick person is doing this was a cat. After that, every single animal left. Did you see any birds out there when you came in? Our last owl didn't come back two days ago. We are officially cut off from everyone when it comes to communications. This dog must have been extremely hungry to even come in the castle. I thought that maybe if I hid it, she would be safe." Aislin could see that they weren't buying it. "That's the truth!" 

"How did you hide a dog from the entire school? I should like to think that the teachers are somewhat sharper than that," Agent Musklin said in a soothing voice. 

"I don't know how we did it. No one ever bothered to ask why I locked myself in my room! They just assume that I'm doing some Pagan ritual that brings about the apocalypse. First of all, I'm not Pagan! And second of all, as far as I know, my mother has never done anything anywhere near apocalyptic and she's never mentioned the desire or means to do so!" Aislin was getting agitated for some reason. After all those days of barely talking to anyone, she was making a fool out of herself in front of the very people she needed to convince. 

Hermione looked at her with what Aislin could only determine as pity in her eyes. Then the expression changed. "When you said something about not wanting to hurt Cara. You didn't mean the cat, did you?" At this point, the young girl broke down. She just couldn't take it anymore, the pity in Hermione's eyes, the accusations in Starler's, or the patronization in Musklin's voice. 

"She's had a dream last night. All I know is what she told me. She doesn't want you to know. She's terrified," choked Aislin between sobs. She felt a hand on her arm. 

"And you? Are you afraid?" Musklin's voice was so nice and she couldn't resist it. 

"I...I don't think so. I guess that I always just thought that it was some student, but ever since Cara told me about her dream, there's been some doubt. Not much, but it's there. What if this is some weird Dark Magic centered over the school. Animals know, and they all left. Would they leave if it was just a kid?" Aislin looked at the three sets of eyes around her. None of them were reassuring. 

"Thank you, Aislin. This was an extremely enlightening conversation. You may go now, and please send Cara down. Sick or not." Hermione's voice was distant as she spoke and Aislin knew that the wheels were turning in her head. 

Aislin stood in front of the door to her room for a few minutes. Cara would be furious that she betrayed her confidence. It's all for the best, Aislin thought. If they can get a picture of the...whatever it is...from Cara's dream, maybe they'll find it faster. Aislin took confidence in the thought and walked in. At first, she couldn't find Cara. She looked everywhere until she found her in the shower, head down, clutching Shandeigh to her. Aislin looked at her with wide eyes. She mouthed her name. 

Cara looked up at her roommate and Aislin could see that Cara's eyes were bloodshot. 

"You told them about the dream, didn't you?" Nod. 

"They want to talk to me?" Nod. 

"I knew it. Maybe the real reason I told you was so that you would be the sensible one and tell them. This will work out for the best." That was Cara's final decision it seemed. She let go of Shandeigh, who ran to Aislin and stood up. Cara took a deep breath and seemed to brace herself as she walked to the door. 

"You're not mad, are you?" Aislin asked just as Cara's hand reached for the knob. There was a long pause, and Cara walked out without answering. 

~ 

It was ten o'clock. Cara hadn't returned. Aislin had stayed up doing homework last night and was exhausted. She couldn't wait up to find out the answer to her last question. She looked at Shandeigh sleeping on the foot of her bed. 

"She needs time to think. It'll be clear tomorrow, one way or the other. After all," Aislin said with a smirk, "tomorrow is another day." She blew out the candle and the room was dark. 

A half hour later Shandeigh looked up at her owner who was now fast asleep. She cocked her head and sniffed the air. Her hair stood up on the back of her neck. The doorknob turned and Cara walked in. The girl smiled at the dog and the dog growled deeply from the back of her throat. Cara simply frowned. 

***March 1*** 

"It's all going according to plan, my pet." The voice was like everything bad there ever was. And yet it sounded like nothing at all. "The Ministry," (the word was extracted like a bad tooth), "is on the trail, now though. SO the game must be played more carefully. It will be difficult, my pet." There was a deep cackle in the same voice. "But it will be ever so much more fun." 

~ 

"I don't understand. What are we supposed to be looking for?" Hermione Granger had just gone over the tapes of the interviews for the fifth time. 

"A man wearing a cape," Agent Starler offered. 

"Well that narrows it down, doesn't it?" snapped Hermione. Agent Starler shrugged in that cool way of hers and Hermione was immediately ashamed that she showed weakness in front of the older woman, whom she now thoroughly hated. 

There was a knock at the door. A young boy, first or second year, handed a piece of paper to Agent Musklin. "We found it when we stargazing last night with Professor Windstrom," explained the messenger. "The owl didn't come anywhere near the castle." Agent Musklin nodded and closed the door behind the kid. He handed the note to Hermione. 

"It's not from Holmes," I thought for sure that he would be sticking his nose in whenever he could, thought Hermione to herself. It was from Ron. Hermione rolled her eyes unconsciously. Ron and Leslie had somehow heard that the investigation was at first centered on Aislin. They were appalled that they weren't told - yadda, yadda, yadda - wondered whether or not Hermione had been set straight - yadda, yadda, yadda - and wanted to know how Aislin was doing. She sighed as she crumpled the parchment into a ball and took a shot into the wastebasket. 

"You know, I'm surprised that you haven't gone for the most obvious choice." Agent Starler's words were cold and indifferent. 

"What is the most obvious choice, Agent Starler?" It was Musklin who had spoken. Hermione sense that he wasn't happy about being paired with the... 

"Voldemort." Silence. 

"What?!" 

"You heard me loud and clear, Assistant Head Hermione Granger. Remember Voldemort? I know it's been a while since anyone has seen him around, but I think that you wouldn't have forgotten him so soon." 

"He's dead. He was killed, my last year at Hogwarts," Hermione took the defensive. She felt it was her duty to stand up for Harry and his effectiveness. 

"He was defeated your last year at Hogwarts, dear. No one knows whether he's dead or not. Or, more accurately, only one person knows if he's dead or not, and he's not talking about it to anyone here." Agent Starler had a fury in her eyes that Hermione had never seen before. 

Hermione smiled, because for once, she had the upper hand. "Then we'll just have to ask him nicely, won't we?" 

~ 

Agent Musklin flew to the nearest post office and sent an owl out to the person and address that Hermione had specified. He thought that it would be pointless and that no one would answer the letter. Not only was it answered the next day, but it was answered in person. 

***March 2*** 

"Wow, when you were telling me about this last week, I never thought of anything like this," Harry said to Hermione after introductions. "Your letter said urgent and now I know why. What do you need me for?" 

"Well, Harry, the investigation has taken an...unexpected turn. Remember our last year at Hogwarts?" Hermione said, not really wanting to get to the point. Harry nodded hesitantly. "Well," Hermione continued. "There's been a little discrepancy when it comes to what exactly happened..." 

"What we would like to know, Mr. Potter," Agent Starler cut in, "is what exactly happened to Voldemort. Did he simply lose his powers again, or did he die?" Harry balked a little at her abruptness. He glanced at Hermione who held an apology in her eyes. 

"Well...I haven't talked about this for years. Gee, um, he died. I know he died. I...I...killed him," Harry's normally smooth speech pattern was turned to stuttering. 

"You're sure, Mr. Potter?" Agent Musklin asked gently. "Because if you are, then we have a copycat on our hands. Not nearly the same strength yet, but it's growing. Whoever this is is flexing their muscles over us." Harry stared at him for a while. And then nodded. 

"Voldemort was dead. Once someone's dead, you can't bring them back to life. I know. I want to help you to do whatever I can. If someone thinks that they can be the next Voldemort, then they have to realize that they'll have to deal with me too." For a moment in the candlelight, Hermione saw Harry's scar gleaming there on his forehead and he looked just like he had in another time, on another day. 

~ 

"I'm so glad that you feel better, Cara," Aislin said. 

"I am too. It turns out that even when I told it to you, it wasn't the same as telling it to someone that can do something about it. No offense," Cara said, smiling. 

"None taken! Who do you think I am, Harry Potter? Going off catching supervillians? No, dear, I'll leave that to the pros." Shandeigh walked into the room. Lately she had been spending most of her time in the bathroom. The girls kept their room on the hot side and they just assumed that she liked to lie on the cool tiles. The dog walked over to Aislin without getting anywhere near Cara. Cara looked sad for a moment, but got over it quickly. 

"Why do you think she's avoiding me?" she asked. 

Aislin laughed. "Ever since I got her, she's been picky. She'll get over it. You bring her food, remember?" Cara laughed. 

"When that guy went out today, he came back with someone else. Do you think he's a Special Agent or something?" Cara asked changing the subject. 

"Maybe. Those Ministry workers have been especially secretive lately. I think they're getting nervous as it goes on. You never know how much time they have until the next accident," Aislin stopped her homework for a while to pet Shandeigh. The dog's hair was on end again. Aislin looked at her friend who smiled across the room at her. 

"Yeah, I guess you never know." Aislin smiled back. 

~ 

The two students who have given us the most information are these two," Hermione informed Harry. They didn't have much time to get him up to speed. Tomorrow was the fourth day. All days they had after that were gravy. "Aislin Weasley and Cara Wembly. The victims of the accidents were Jennifer Wallace, Professor Marks, and Car's cat. Jennifer has two broken legs that were healed quickly, the Professors neck took a little while longer, and the cat is dead. The attacks are building, and we fear that the next time our copycat strikes, they will kill a student or teacher." Harry nodded. 

"Can I have a look at the files of the victims and the two girls that have given you information?" Harry asked. Hermione handed him the folders and he looked at them, reading carefully. There was silence in the room for a long time. 

Finally Harry broke it. "Um, Hermione? Did you ever notice that - ?" 

~ 

It was late. The girl wasn't on one of her midnight walks tonight. It was safe. The evil voice cursed violently. "Who is it, my pet? Who is that blasted man? I did not anticipate this. Those bumbling fools at the Ministry have an advantage. No, my pet, not a large one, but an advantage nonetheless." The voice paused and thought. "What would my master have done in this situation? I know, my pet! He would send an innocent bystander. I know just the person..." 

A/N: Okay, okay. I know that you guys hate these serials, but give me credit. Yes, there is one more part, but I slaved writing this during the SUPERBOWL! Well, okay I liked writing it, but still...the SUPERBOWL! Anyway, if you aren't buying my excuses, then the next installment will finish the story, so don't fear. 

Disclaimer: Sorry everyone, I think I forgot this in the first part, so Harry, Ron, Hermione, Voldemort, and a bunch of other stuff and people belong to JK Rowling, not me. If I did own it I would probably be at the Superbowl right now. Anyway Aislin, Cara, and all the other made up characters are mine, mine, ALL MINE! I'm a happy little miser. (Ok, I'll go away now.) 


	3. Default Chapter Title

Disclaimer: I am in no way, shape or form JK Rowling, and nothing in the Harry Potter universe belongs to me except for the occasional characters that I make up. I don't mean to infringe on anything. This is just for fun and entertainment. Please don't sue. 

***March 3*** 

"Yes, Mr. Potter, we've noticed that," Agent Starler interrupted rudely. He looked up a little surprised at her. 

"What my colleague means to say, Mr. Potter," Agent Musklin said, "is that we've been over and over these files and we generally have noticed everything that is relevant to the case at hand." 

Harry thought for a moment and then said, "So you noticed the connections to Cara?" Everyone looked at him strangely. 

"What do you mean? Of course we noticed. The cat was hers," Hermione said, a little lost. 

Harry smiled. "You know what? You must really be nervous about this, because under any other conditions you would be the one pointing this out to me. All of the victims have some connection to Cara. Yes, the cat was hers, but if you look at her school record she had detention for a week because of some unnamed incident with the professor that was injured. Also the girl that was hurt had once been Cara and Aislin's roommate, but she switched rooms because of 'weirdness' as she puts it. I tried to look up Cara's past records, but there is none. It's sealed." 

"Well, that we knew. We didn't want to get tied up in red tape just to have someone die this time because of the anomaly. I suppose though that if Cara is now a suspect, then we have the right and the duty to unseal her record...." Hermione paused and then smiled slowly. "I'll go talk to Lentho." 

~ 

Cara woke up early. She walked over the cold floor to Aislin's bed, ignoring Shandeigh's growling. "Aislin? Aislin?" she whispered. She shook her friend. Aislin rolled over to look at the clock which said, "Go back to sleep. No sane person is awake at this hour." Aislin pointed at the clock and pulled the covers up over her head. 

"But Aislin, I think I know who's doing this." Aislin sat up and rubbed her eyes. "You do?" she asked groggily. 

"Yes, I had another dream. Agent Musklin was coming back with that new person. Only the new person flew away from the agent and stopped in front of me. He pulled out his wand and said that finally someone had played right into his hands, and now fear will rule, or something like that. It was the same voice I heard in my other dream. He pulled out his wand and killed me. Only I could still hear everyone screaming." Cara broke down and started crying and mumbling incoherently. 

Aislin put her arms around her friend, trying to comfort her. Cara didn't stop crying though. Aislin took her friend by her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Cara, what do you want to do? I have a feeling that you were right about the first dream. If it will make you feel better, then...we can skip class today and spy on the person." Cara stopped crying for a moment. 

"Do you mean it? No, we can't. Can we?" Cara asked. Aislin nodded and got up. She went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. 

"I'm going to get ready. They'll probably be patrolling the grounds or interviewing students or something like that. I know where Professor Lentho put him. We can do it, Cara." 

The girls got ready and waited until they knew that class had been going for a while. They walked out into the hallway, saw no one, and proceeded to the east wing of the castle where classes were held. They snuck towards the library where there were four adults questioning Jenn. I see Agent Musklin, Agent Starler, Assistant Head Granger, and...darn. I can't see the other person's face. Starler walked in front of him. But if he's here then we can sneak into his room." 

Aislin and Cara went back to the west wing. "Are you sure you know which room is his?" Cara asked when they reached the corridor where guests were normally boarded. 

"Yes," Aislin replied. "When I was coming back here from class, I heard someone trying to get into the trick door room. He was having trouble. It had to have been the new guy." Cara looked doubtful, but she walked over to a wall and reached out straight in front of her and poked it. 

"Hey!" came a gruff voice. "I don't remember anyone saying that some chicks would be coming here. You feel like students. They poke the hardest." The door was apparently not in a good mood. The girls looked at each other and Aislin stepped forward. 

"We're, um, here because your, um, occupant told us to get something for him. Could you please open up? Pretty, pretty please with a chocolate frog on top?" There was what sounded like a large sigh and the door opened up. 

"I always was a sucker for cute girls who ask nicely." Cara walked inside and started looking around. Aislin followed her in and her eyes fell upon a broomstick. 

"Cara!" Her friend rushed over and stopped dead when she saw the broom. 

"Is that what I think it is?" Cara asked. Aislin nodded. She had never bee any good at Quidditch, but she loved brooms. 

"A Firebolt. It's a classic. When these babies came out they blew every other broom out of the water. Of course there have been better brooms since then, but none have ever come close to lasting as long as Firebolts do. I've never been this close to one. Whoever this person is, they're rich. Firebolts were only made for two years and they were extremely expensive." Cara shook her head out of reverie. 

"Aislin, we're not here to look at brooms. Beautiful, thought they may be...we need to find out who this person is," said Cara. Aislin didn't move from her spot near the broom. She had her hand held out as if to touch it, but she never did. She was afraid that she might wreck it. Cara sighed at her friend's hypnotic state and turned to open a trunk at the end of the bed. There was a letter on top and it was resting on a very filmy cloak. 

Cara dropped the letter and picked up the cloak. "Aislin!" Cara's friend didn't move. "Aislin!" she yelled louder, finally getting her attention. Aislin walked over, annoyed at having to move away from the broom. When she saw what Cara was holding, her eyes widened. 

"Rich doesn't begin to describe this man," she whispered as she ranher hands over the cloak. "Cara, put it on." Cara paused for a moment, but then decided that it would be as close as she ever got to a real Invisibility Cloak and so she complied. 

"It's real!" Aislin squealed. "I can't see...cover your foot, dear. You're gone, now. Hey, what's this?" Aislin picked up the letter that Cara had dropped. She opened it and read a few lines. "Cara, did you read this?" 

Suddenly there were footsteps out in the hallway. The door woke up and started talking to whoever it was. Aislin closed the trunk and Cara put the cloak over her friend too. The door opened after a few protests at being treated unfairly. A black man walked into the room. The two girls held their breath and waited. The man looked around suspiciously for a while, then got his broom and left. 

Cara threw off the cloak and put it back into the trunk where she had found it. "The letter it to Harry Potter!" she said as she closed the trunk. "That was Harry Potter! Do the agents think that whoever is doing this is...You-Know-Who?" 

Aislin shrugged and said, "Well according to your dream, he's the one who's doing this." Cara shook her head. Things were getting way too confusing. 

"Let's go," said Cara. "I don't know what to think anymore." 

The girls headed back to their room. They were silent the entire way and when they opened the door to their room, they found Professor Lentho waiting for them. Shandeigh was in a Full Body Bind, and the Ministry Agents were behind him. 

"Would you care to explain where you two were?" Professor Lentho asked. 

"Not particularly, no," Cara said. Aislin gaped at her. She had never heard her friend talk to a professor that way. Professor Lentho was thrown off for a moment, too. 

But only for a moment. "Well, cutting classes is unacceptable on it's own, but you girls did not just cut class. I want to know what you two were doing, and until you're ready to tell me, you will both have detention every night starting tonight. Also having an unauthorized animal! This dog will be taken to the infirmary and kept until we can run a few tests to see whether it's the cause of it. No animal that's good would be anywhere near this place during an anomaly." With that, Lentho walked out of the room. The agents followed him out, each giving the two girls dirty looks. 

Hermione was last. She turned and looked at them. "I suggest you girls go to class for the rest of the day." 

~ 

"Harry Potter, my pet? Harry Potter. They think that he will make a difference? They truly are idiots. I have learned from my master's mistakes. I will not confront that boy until I have all the power that I need to defeat him. Right now, pet, I focus on my next deed. There is nothing to stop me now. The time is here. Tonight draws near." There was a deep growl, and the owner of the horrible voice moved away from it's pet. 

~ 

"Is this truly necessary?" Aislin complained to Madame Arino, the nurse. 

"Detention is supposed to be punishment," the woman said simply. "Now stop complaining and get to work." Aislin groaned and looked down at her work. Fifteen bedpans all full. 

"Can I at least have gloves?" Madame Arino glared at her and took some gloves from an apron pocket. She threw them down on the side of the sink. Aislin thanked her and put the gloves on. She knew that she hated the nurse. That woman just never seemed happy. 

Aislin dumped the first bedpan in the sink. She scrubbed it vigorously and thoroughly. She didn't want that woman to think that she was unable to do the simplest, if disgusting, tasks. 

~ 

Cara had been folding sticking seals on what seemed like millions of letters for three-quarters of an hour. The worst part was that the stacks din't seem to be getting any smaller. The care of Magical Creatures professor came up the owlry steps and startled Cara. 

"You know, you're finished with the first section. I won't say anything if you leave a little early." Cara stared at the professor, and then got up. She walked down the steps and started towards her room, but then went in the opposite direction. She stopped in front of a massive door and knocked. Professor Lentho answered. 

"Professor," Cara said, "I'm ready to tell you what we were doing." 

~ 

Aislin had just put away her fourteenth bedpan and was starting on the last one when Agents Starler and Musklin burst in. Madame Arino ran out trying to shush them. 

"This is a hospital ward, and I know that my patients would appriciate peace and quiet," said the flustered nurse. 

"We're terribly sorry, but we were informed just what she was doing when she skipped out of class. That's right, dear, Cara told us that you snuck into Mr. Potter's room and when you found out who he was you said something to the effect of 'This changes everything. Now I know who the next will be.' What do you have to say for yourself?" Agent Starler said. Aislin could see that she was gloating. Ever since that first interview, Agent Starler seemed to not believe anything she said. 

"It's a lie! Okay, I'll give it to you that we snuck in, but I never said anything like that. Cara had a dream that whoever the person you called in was the person doing this! We were trying to find something to prove it!" Aislin yelled. BY now, Madame Arino had had enough and was shooing them outside. The door was shut behind them and the halls were empty. It was late and Aislin was alone with the agents. 

Agent Musklin was nicer to Ailsin. He took her arm lightly as they walked towards her rom and said in a soothing tone, "Now, now, don't worry. We'll listen to both of you, but until all this is over, we're going to keep both of you in your rooms. Think of it as us trying to help prove your innocence." They had reached Aislin's room and he nudged her inside and shut the door. Aislin heard a click on the outside. She was locked in her room. 

"Hello Aislin." She spun away from the door to look at Cara who was standing in the bathroom doorway. 

"You. How could you lie like that? You and I both know that I never said that!" Aislin yelled. 

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I'm not so sure." 

"What is the matter with you? No, I don't care. One thing is for darn sure, though. If I go down for this, you had damn well better believe that I'm taking you down with me." Aislin couldn't believe what she was saying. This was Cara she was talking to. And yet, she meant every word that came out of her mouth. 

Cara didn't seem phased by Aislin's threat. "You don't care what's wrong with me? You should, you know. Because it's me." 

"What the hell is the matter? What are you blathering on about now? More of your little stories?" Aislin was starting to be frightened for some reason. Cara was scaring her. The look in her eyes was the look of someone gone mad. 

"It's me. What else can I say? I'm the one who's been doing all this. The 'accidents,' the anomalies, the dreams. They're all me." Cara's face was different. It was as if she was possessed. "No I'm not possessed. It's more like that Muggle disease. Multiple Personality Disorder." Cara took a moment to laugh at the bewilderment on Aislin's face. 

"Cara, I don't understand..." 

There was a pause and then she spoke. Her voice had changed and it was not sweet anymore. It was like every horrible sound that Aislin had ever heard."I'm not Cara. That's just it. Oh Aislin, my pet, I'm older than I look. Let me explain as you are apparently more stupid than I anticipated. Cara is from Greece. Ancient Greece to be more exact. She is a dryad which is a type of nymph. She lived in my tree and played with all the other little nymphs for quite some time. It was fun then, but it grew tiring after hundreds of years. 

"One day, though, a wizard came by and showed all the nymphs magic that he could do. Everyone 'oohed' and 'aahed' while he was there, but once he left it was right back to the same dancing and singing as always. Cara was touched by the experienced more than she liked and soon I was born, Aretha. I wanted that kind of power. Nymphs are magical creatures, but the only magic they can do involves their domains. Dryads rule trees, and that was the extent of our power. I waited patiently as Cara danced with the others. She tried to forget that I was there, but I was. It was years and years before our family of dryads moved to England to a place where we thought that we could help. 

"My family had met a clan of traveling centaurs and made friends with them. The descendants of those centaurs called us to help them try to protect a forest from pure evil. So we came and we did for a while. Many of our family were killed. This forest was by a school and one day a student ventured in. He was foolhardy to do it, as he was sure to be attacked. He was, but he summoned a power that I had not thought possible and fended of his assailant. I had to know this power. It excited me to think that I could be like that. I approached him and talked. He said that it was easy enough to learn the power. The boy's name was Tom Riddle. 

"As the story draws to a close, he taught me many things and though I was much older, I was happy to serve him. He went away for a long time when he graduated and I was left alone to bide my time once more. When he came back he told me to call him by a new name and he was more powerful than before. He said that he was ready to take his place as the dictator for life over the magical world. He almost did, too until that blasted boy defeated him. He lost his power and for some reason, I did too. After that fateful night, I could no longer summon up the magic to do just the simplest things. Cara had taken over again." 

Aislin stared at her friend, or whatever she was. It was all to much to take in at one time and she needed time to think, but she didn't have any. Aislin wanted to run away, but instead she was locked in with a monster. The only thing Aislin could do was keep her talking until morning and maybe the light of day would bring Cara back. Yes, she would have to talk to her, even thought the voice was painful to hear. 

"Why did Cara come to a wizarding school if she knows that it could have taught you what you needed to know?" asked Aislin tentatively. 

"Our minds are separate. Cara knows about me, but refuses to acknowledge my presence. I can only assume that she thought that if she learned magic herself she could defeat me if I ever gained my power again." Aretha said. 

"That's risky. I don't believe that Cara would do that. In fact, I don't believe that you're doing this at all. I think that you're just a shadow of what you once were. You said yourself that you lost all your power," Aislin confidently stated. If she got Aretha to tell her the whole story, she might have time to think of a plan. 

"I agree. It was a rather gutsy move for our friend Cara. As for my power, Voldemort came back, and that gave me faith that I could regain what I had lost. I studied for years with Cara in the school of light magic and then I tried the dark side of it all. It took me a few months to figure out that Cara was most vulnerable at night, and had the least control over me then. I tried a few things at night like killing birds and bugs. They worked, but the animals seemed to dampen my powers to. I deduced a way to keep animals away. I had to make a wal of evil that no animal would cross and I would be safe. The 'anomaly' is that wall. I can only maintain it for a few days, and no animal comes near it. Of course Cara got onto me. The next day she went out and brought hoem a cat. So I killed it." 

Aislin looked at the girl in front of her. There was no doubt in her mind now that she was a codl monster. Aislin's thoughts turned to poor Felix who died thinking that Cara had killed him. 

Aretha continued. "After that I discovered that it was becoming easier for me to do harm to people. I decided to cut off the school when I found a way to keep the anomaly up and hold everyone here hostage until I was name dhte supreme ruler. It would have happened much sooner if those Ministry people hadn't arrived. And if you hadn't found that damn dog. Cara used to keep it near her constantly and it would have been my victim had she not been taken away." 

"You can't win. The Ministry will find out and they won't even negotiate with you," Aislin said. If only Aretha would keep trying to prove her wrong. 

"Well, you won't be around to find out, dear, because You're going to die tonight. No, trying to keep me talking didn't work and I can tell that you don't have any other plans." Aretha leveled Cara's wand at Aislin. Aislin acted on impulse. She ran towards her at full speed. Aretha dropped her wand for a split second and tried to raise it again, but not in time. Aislin had rammed further into the bathroom and in the tub. Aislin closed the door behind her and grabbed her wand. 

"Loquito imperviouso!" she yelled. A gray mist jumped from the edge of her wand and took a stand in front of the door. Aislin knew that it wouldn't hold her forever though. 

~ 

Harry had just come back from the Ministry's ahll of records. He had to tell Hermione what he had found. He didn't even bother to go inside the castle. He simply flew around until he got to her window. 

"Hermione! Hermione!" he yelled, knocking on the window. She got out of bed and opened the window. 

"What in the world are you doing out here? Are you insane?" 

"No, we have to get Cara. I found her records and she goes back a lot further than seventeen years. Get on." 

Hermione got hesitantly on the broom and Harry flew around to the main entrance. "What do you mean she goes back further than seventeen years." 

"She's a nymph that happened to have moved to the Forbidden Forest right around the time Tom Riddle was going there. She met him and was his student. She's the one who's doing this," Harry explained as he ran down corridor after corridor searching for the right room. 

"Oh, no! Aislin! Harry, I know where she is." Hermione led the way down the right corridor. One of the doors was being pounded from the inside. The students were all gathered outside looking at the door in fear. Aislin could be heard screaming on the inside. 

"Help! Someone, plaes! Can't you haer me! She's gone mad! It's Cara!" Hermione tried the door, but it was locked. She remembered that both girls were under room arrest until the anomaly left. Hermione coldly smiled at the irony. 

"Everyone stand back and don't look directly at the door," Harry said carrying a small vile to the door. He poured to over the knob. There was a blinding light even though no one was looking at the knob directly. When the light was gone, the knob had disintegrated. Harry kicked the door open and Hermione ran in. 

The bathroom door was broken. Aislin was in the corner of the room and Cara was hovering over her, fury in her eyes and her wand ready. Aislin's wand was across the room. 

"Petrificus Totalus!" Hermione shouted. Cara turned and stared at her and then fell down, paralyzed. Aislin broke down crying and had to be carried to the infirmary. 

~ 

"I never would have believed that it was Cara if I didn't see it myself," Hermione said. 

"It wasn't Cara, it was Aretha. Two different people. I don't know how it's going to work, though. After all you can't send Aretha away and not send Cara with her. And Cara is in charge most of the time. It wouldn't be fair to her. It wasn't her fault that Arteha did everything." Harry stopped and looked questioningly at Hermione 

"It doesn't seem fair does it? But that's how it has to be. We can't risk Aretha coming out again. Besides, Cara knew all along that it was Aretha doing it and she did nothing. Maybe if she had come to us, we would could have done something, but she didn't." 

Harry nodded. "Well, it's over at least." 

"Yes, it's over. For now. It seems that even though we've defeated Voldemort, his followers don't seem to realize that there's no hope. There will always be someone to try to take over for his master." Hermione sighed. 

Harry put his arm around her. "So what if they do? It's not happening today. Just live now. And when another day comes that you have to fight the forces of evil...well you have the practice. Besides, you're on the good guys side. They might not always win, but the balance is tipped in their faovr," he said with a sily grin. 

Hermione laughed. "Oh well, you're right I suppose. I'll just wait for another day." 

AN: Et voila! I finished it in the next installment, just as I told you I would. I hope you like his ending, I'm not completely satisfied with it, but I hope that it's just me. Please review and owls can be sent to mtfbwya@pacbell.net. Thanks for reading! 


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